2) How long have you been a writer and what inspired you to become an author? I have always had an overwhelming urge to write stories. As a teenager, I filled notebook after notebook, and continued writing daily throughout my life. I can’t imagine not writing.

I never intended to be an author. I started writing my first serious book after reading a long string of depressing books that completely obliterated my desire to read. But it was all for my own enjoyment. I never thought of publishing the books. Years later, a professional editor who I met through an online fanfiction community asked me if she could read something of my own. She loved my book. And that’s when I began to think seriously about publishing.

3) What is the Ravenwood Detective Agency about? ‘From the Ashes’ takes place in San Francisco at the turn of the century. Atticus Riot is a gambler turned detective who worked along side the legendary Zephaniah Ravenwood for twenty years. After his partner’s murder, Riot isn’t the same. He has every intention of hanging his hat up for good, but curiosity gets the better of him, and he accepts a final case. Or so he thinks. The case, that of finding an abducted heiress, takes an unexpected turn and so does his life.

The premise for the series began with a thought (as books often do): What if the legendary half of a detective duo was murdered? What would the remaining (and not as brilliant) half do? The series explores guilt, regret, and new beginnings in a fascinating place and time.

One reviewer summed the setting, San Francisco’s Barbary Coast, up very well by saying, ‘We see the grit, grime and danger in a city that was part modern, part frontier seaport, but we also experience the city’s glamor, the beauty of it incomparable setting, and its exotic lure.’

4) What other author would you compare your books to? I would be honored if my books were ever compared to Laurie R. King and Elizabeth Peters. I try to write with the same mix of suspense, adventure, and humor.

5) What’s the plan for the rest of 2014? Along with my mystery series, I also write high fantasy. The second book in the Legends of Fyrsta series, King’s Folly, will be released in November. After that, I’ll switch gears, and start writing the second book in the Ravenwood Detective Agency series. And in November, I’ll be attending Bouchercon 2014 where I’m scheduled for an Author Focus Panel on the 15th.